On the way ho, the two girls held celebratory candy apples in their hands. They chatted and laughed, occasionally taking bites of the candy, letting the sweetness spread across their palates.
"Yuika, Yuika, don't you think Chishima-sensei is being a little too nice to us? Do you think he has so kind of ulterior motive? I an, look at you—you're a total beauty. There are so many guys at school who like you; I even heard so seniors are planning to make a move. It wouldn't be strange at all if he was after sothing!"
"Kaiko! Chishima-sensei is just a very kind person. You shouldn't harbor such bad prejudices against others."
"Hey, hey! Yuika, you're way too innocent. The world is full of bad people..."
"But at the sa ti, there are plenty of good people too. Kaiko, I get what you're saying, but I'm not as naive as you think! Besides, we shouldn't judge whether soone is good or bad based purely on our own subjective assumptions."
"Yuika, don't get mad, I was just joking. Chishima-sensei is actually pretty great. He's... special. He's different from any teacher or boss I've ever t. It's almost like... how do I put it? Oh, right! Like a Ronin. Doesn't he remind you of those masterless samurai from movies or dramas? So cool... Plus, Yuika, have you noticed how handso he is? At first, he looks kind of average, but the more you look, the more handso he gets! Honestly, I think he's way better than that Hayama-senpai the 'trash' in our class are always bragging about. I really don't like that Hayama guy. He's 'too' nice. Sure, he's good-looking, but he's clearly just a Normie playing the field, surrounded by people every day and not even looking bothered by it. Real friends? You only need one or two. A guy like that is fine as an acquaintance, but you could never be close to him. Now, Chishima-sensei... he's a total catch. If I ever look for a boyfriend, I'm definitely looking for soone like him..."
"Kaiko, shut your mouth!"
Unable to endure her best friend's endless, increasingly nonsensical chatter any longer, Kondo Yuika finally delivered a sharp hand-chop to Sakurai Kaiko's head to silence the topic.
"Yuika, you're bullying ," Sakurai Kaiko whimpered, clutching her small head.
"That's because you were saying such ridiculous things."
Yuika puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away. With a candy apple in one hand and her bento in the other, she crossed her arms in a huff.
Silence fell between them—
Neither spoke for a mont. Kondo Yuika eventually turned back to glare at Sakurai Kaiko, and Kaiko glared right back. And then...
"Pffft... Hahaha!"
Their serious expressions lted away as both girls burst into cheerful laughter, the tense atmosphere vanishing in an instant.
"Yuika, let's hurry ho! I can't wait to try Chishima-sensei's cooking!"
"Kaiko, studying cos first. Your rank dropped a few spots on the last exam; you almost fell out of the top ten."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know..."
Chishimaya.
Chishima Akishin spent about twenty minutes tidying up the kitchen, finishing off the leftovers for dinner, and downing a few small glasses of alcohol.
He pulled up the floating blue light of his system interface to check his status.
His Charisma had moved from 14 to 15. It had finally ticked up a bit. That certainly hadn't been easy.
Perhaps his ntal state had undergone a subtle shift because of Yuika and her friend. This was good; at this rate, he should be able to completely mask his aura within a week.
After finishing his dinner and scrolling through his phone over a few drinks, he headed to the Dojo half an hour later, carrying his Shinai. He began practicing his forms, ntally replaying the mistakes he'd made during his bouts in the Training Room.
Out of fifty-four life-and-death battles, Akishin had only managed to truly grasp two techniques. It was perhaps more accurate to call them Sword Skills.
Those two Sword Skills were: Broken Sword and Broken Human.
The purpose of Broken Sword was to shatter or interrupt an opponent's technique!
In a real fight, the most important thing wasn't just cutting the enemy—it was protecting yourself and your blade. It required not only a unique grip but also the instinctual knowledge of how to avoid being cut. Broken Sword was born for that sole purpose.
Broken Human, on the other hand, was the thod for the kill.
Whether it was a slash to the throat or a thrust to the heart, the various killing thods Akishin had refined through constant combat were all consolidated into Broken Human.
It was nothing more than a single horizontal slash, a vertical upward cut, and a thrust.
However, Akishin possessed a rhythm of his own that was incredibly difficult to predict—much like those formidable masters who spend their entire lives perfecting a single strike.
These two Sword Skills ford the foundation of Akishin's "Self-Taught Style" Kendo.
By the ti he finished practicing, he was drenched in sweat. Seeing that it was exactly midnight, Akishin showered and went to bed, falling into a deep sleep almost the mont his head hit the pillow.
Today had been another productive and pleasant day.
Rewinding four hours back.
8:00 PM, at a luxury apartnt.
Yukinoshita Yukino returned ho carrying groceries, only to find a familiar figure waiting in her living room.
"Why are you here?"
Yukino knit her brows, her gaze fixed coldly on Haruno.
"Hi there, Yukino-chan! It's been so long. Why not give your big sister a warr welco?" Haruno waved enthusiastically, a flawless smile plastered on her face.
"You aren't welco here, Nee-san. You can leave now."
Yukino ignored the greeting and began putting the groceries into the refrigerator.
"I can't do that." Haruno suddenly hugged Yukino from behind, burying her face in Yukino's hair. "Nee-san hasn't seen Yukino-chan in forever. I want to have a long, long chat with you."
Yukino pulled away from the embrace, turning to face her sister with a frigid stare. "Nee-san, what is it that you actually want?"
"Really, it's nothing. I just wanted to see how Yukino-chan is doing."
"As I said, you aren't welco—"
"Yukino-chan," Haruno interrupted with a smile, though her tone carried a sharp, underlying threat. "Don't be so stubborn. It would be quite difficult to explain things to Mother otherwise."
Yukino fell silent. Without a word, she began preparing dinner.
Haruno didn't continue teasing her sister. Instead, she returned to the living room with a smile and sat on the sofa, observing the decor.
Too empty. Not a fit for a high school girl at all.
That was Haruno's thought as she looked around, a flicker of fleeting sadness crossing her eyes.
Before long, Yukinoshita Yukino finished cooking.
"Ah, Yukino-chan's cooking really is excellent."
Haruno praised her with a smile. Yukino offered no reaction, simply serving a bowl of rice and handing it to her. The two sisters sat across from one another, the atmosphere between them as cold as that of total strangers.
Haruno took a bite of Tempura and remarked, "Your skills are great, but Nee-san still feels like the food I had at Chishima-sensei's place the other day was tastier. By the way, have you tried Chishima-sensei's cooking yet, Yukino-chan?"
"I have. The food he prepares is indeed very delicious. Do you... know Chishima-sensei, Nee-san?"
At the ntion of Chishima Akishin, Yukino recalled the words he had said to her earlier that afternoon, and she drifted off into thought.
"You could say that. He's a friend of Shizuka-chan's. Shizuka-chan was at his house recently, and when I went to look for her, I decided to drop by..."
Haruno's voice trailed off. Given how closely she always watched Yukino, she imdiately noticed that her sister was distracted—the rice in her bowl remained untouched.
Her heart sank slightly, but she maintained her outward composure, asking with a smile, "What's wrong, Yukino-chan? You seem out of it. Are you thinking about a boy? Well, our Yukino-chan has reached that age, hasn't she? Nee-san feels so lonely... Co on, tell who it is."
Normally, Yukinoshita Yukino would have responded to such a topic with a biting, icy retort. But this ti, her expression didn't change. She looked at her sister—the figure she had once admired so much but now feared—and a sense of hesitation clouded her blue eyes.
After a long pause, she finally spoke. "Nee-san... I think I might have been wrong."
The smile on Haruno's face vanished. This was the first ti in two years that Yukino had spoken to her like this. She leaned in, asking seriously, "Yukino, did sothing happen today?"
Seeing her older sister's worried expression, Yukino hesitated for a mont before recounting everything Chishima Akishin had said to her.
Once she finished, Yukino asked again, "Nee-san... did I really make a mistake?"
"No, Yukino-chan."
Yukinoshita Haruno stood up and gently stroked her sister's head, her voice filled with a rare tenderness. "You didn't do anything wrong. You just need to change the way you think a little. Be a bit braver. Just like that Chishima-sensei said... keep moving forward. Truly forward. Don't just keep running in place."
In Haruno's eyes, Yukino saw an expression she didn't understand at all.
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